


A Robin Who Fell Out of the Nest.

by Mxrekai



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Batfamily (DCU), Daddy Issues, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd-centric, More characters to be added, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Bruce Wayne, Protective Dick Grayson, SLIGHT SLIGHT SLIGHT Salt-Fic??, Toddler Jason Todd, confronting characters about mistreatment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23378293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mxrekai/pseuds/Mxrekai
Summary: They have no idea how they got into this situation. One moment, they’re jumping from rooftop to rooftop, battling and chasing down Mordru, then the next moment Red Hood is hit by a magical charge of light, losing his balance and landing into a dumpster below, the trash bags cushioning his fall. Of course, they stopped the chase to check on him, only to discover a 5 year old boy in his place, in his clothes, in his helmet. At that moment, Morbus made his great escape and slipped out of the heroes grasp. They decided to try again later so they could take their family member home, only for him to run upstairs and trap himself in his room. And now, here they are, trying to reason with Jason Todd, to open the door so they can figure out what the hell happened.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Jason Todd & Everyone, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 26
Kudos: 210





	A Robin Who Fell Out of the Nest.

“Little Wing? Can you open the door for us bud?” Dick asked.

“Jay, we just want to help you.” Tim tried.

They have no idea how they got into this situation. One moment, they’re jumping from rooftop to rooftop, battling and chasing down Mordru, then the next moment Red Hood is hit by a magical charge of light, losing his balance and landing into a dumpster below, the trash bags cushioning his fall. Of course, they stopped the chase to check on him, only to discover a 5 year old boy in his place, in his clothes, in his helmet. At that moment, Morbus made his great escape and slipped out of the heroes grasp. They decided to try again later so they could take their family member home, only for him to run upstairs and trap himself in his room. And now, here they are, trying to reason with Jason Todd, to open the door so they can figure out what the  _ hell _ happened.

“No! Go bug someone else!” 

“Jason! Unlock this door  _ now _ ! We need to have a talk-“ Bruce started.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Jason screamed through the door.

“ _ Damn! Even at this age he wants nothing to do with me!”  _ Bruce thought.

The four exchanged worried glances at each other. How are they supposed to fix Jason when he won’t even leave his room? How are they supposed to figure out how much he remembers, and what he does  _ not _ remember, if he won’t open the door and talk to them. This is going to be harder than any of them anticipated it would be.  _ Let me try _ , Damian mouthed to the rest then took a few steps forward, pounding furiously on the door.

“Todd! Listen to father and open this door right this moment!” Damian yelled back.

From behind the wall the sound of locks being turned could be heard, bringing a smirk of satisfaction to Damian’s face. In quick succession, the door flew open, filling the boys with relief for a split second until a flying foot launched itself in between Damians legs,  _ hard _ . Before anyone had time to react the door was slammed closed, locks being put back in place.

One by one, Tim’s face scrunched up in discomfort as he bit back a laugh, Dick inhaled sharply through closed teeth, and Bruce just winced at his son’s pain. No one moved as Damian brought two balled up fists towards his lower area to cover where Jason’s foot landed. He doubled over in pain, slowly crumbling to the floor with dark shadows looming over his face. Once he was down, he laid curled up in a ball on the floor.

“Uh… Damian?” Dick broke the silence. “Are you okay?”

“Grayson…” Damian groaned. “Bring me my sword.”

“Damian!” Tim snapped.

“What?! If the brat does not wish to speak to us, then we can resort to other forms of communication!” Damian protested.

“The only one here being a brat is  _ you _ .” Tim shot back.

Damian pushed himself off of the floor and stalked over to Tim, glaring at him with fire in his eyes.

“Would you like to spar, right here, right now Drake?” Damian crossed his arms.

“Boys!” Bruce howled. “We don’t have time for this!”

  
“Bruce is right. Right now one of our family members is a toddler and he needs our help.” Dick spoke up.

“Well Grayson, that seems like a problem for you four, but thankfully, Todd is not  _ my  _ family. He’s a disgrace to the Robin name and he was a stupid one at best.” Damian explained.

“Takes one to know one.” Tim mumbled.

Before Damian could lunge or attack Tim, Dick took hold of Damian’s arm and pulled him back. Bruce stepped in between the two. Damian ripped his arm out of Dick’s grasp, glaring at the older man and scoffing.

“Have fun with… whatever this is.” Damian outlined circles pointing at the floor with his index fingers before walking off down the hallway and down the stairs.

“Now what do we do?” Dick looked towards Bruce.

“I don’t know, but we need to find out what happened and how to fix it.”

“Well, kind of hard with a locked door in our way.” Tim said.

“Can’t we just kick it down?” Dick asked.

“And have him give us the silent treatment so he won’t tell us anything or run off?” Tim scoffed. “We need to approach this calmly.”

“Maybe what we need to do is… give him some time?” Dick shrugged.

“Dick’s right, we should wait for him to cool off before trying to talk to him again.” Tim nodded in agreement. 

The three dispersed and went their separate ways around the manor, giving their now younger brother some space to cool off and process the situation.

*********************************************************************************************

There was a soft knock on the door, Jason scowled at it and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Bruce, Dick, Tim, Damian, whoever it is go away!” He shouted.

“Um, Master Jason?” A familiar accent was muffled by the door between them. “I just wanted to make sure-”

In a matter of milli-seconds Jason’s sour mood changed into a sweet one almost instantaneously. 

“Alfie!” Jason cheered, hopping off the bed and running towards the door then opening it. 

Alfred looked down to see a small, wide eyed boy with a giant smile on his face, exposing his baby teeth.  _ So the rumors are true _ . The young master was turned into a toddler and remembers things from when he was older. 

“Come in! Come in!” 

Jason reached and took hold of the butler's gloved hand, leading him into his room and closing the door behind him. Jason walked over to his bed, stepping over scattered clothes and toys on the floor. He patted the mattress with both hands. The small boy cheered.

“Sit! Sit!”

As Alfred sat down, he examined the mess on the floor that he would later have to clean up, his eyes only leaving the carpet when he noticed Jason waddling over with a giant children’s book in his hand and jumped up onto the bed, moving scooting closer to Alfred.

“Can I read to you?” 

“Ofcourse.”

Jason opened the brightly colored book then turned to the first page and began reading. He finished the book in half an hour, occasionally struggling with how to pronounce words (which Alfred helped him with on pronunciation). He slammed the book closed, kicking his dangling feet back and forth.

“So…” Jason trailed.

“You did wonderful Master Jason. Absolutely splendid!” Alfred politely clapped.

“Thanks Alfie!” Jason beamed, showing all of his baby teeth in a proud smile.

“I’m sure Master Bruce would love to hear you read to him as well.” Alfred suggested.

“Mmm no, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

Jason hopped off the bed and scurried over to the bookshelf. Delicately pushing books around and rearranging them as if it was an art form. If it was an art form, he would become a gold medalist at it. He removed the book he just finished reading from underneath his armpit and placed it back on the shelf, cramming a few books up against the wood surface of the bookshelf to make room.

“Whyever not?”

Jason let out a sigh and made his way back to his bed, climbing on it to sit next to Alfred. 

“Can I ask a question?” Jason tilted his head.

“Of Course you may.” Alfred nodded.

“Alfie?” Big blue eyes met soft brown ones. “Why doesn’t Bruce love me?”

****************

“He said  _ what?! _ ” 

Bruce whipped around in his chair, staring wide-eyed and panicked at the elder and the new information he brought.

“He asked me why you didn’t love him.” Alfred repeated. “Whatever would have made the lad think that?”

Bruce felt like he had just been stabbed in the gut and the knife was being twisted.  _ “Whatever would have made the lad think that?” _ the question echoed in his mind, burning into his thoughts. 

“I...I...” Bruce was at a loss for words.

Every fight, every gesture, every single encounter he’s had with Jason in the past surged through his brain. In an instant, peach skin turned pale with guilt. At this point, Bruce wouldn’t be surprised with himself if he had told Jason upright that he didn’t love him at some point. But in a way, he knew he made a clear message to Jason that he didn’t care about him. That he wasn’t part of the family and he wasn’t his son. Actions speak louder than words, isn’t that what they always say? So it’s not surprising that Jason didn’t feel loved or even  _ liked _ by Bruce.

“Whatever happened between you two when he was older, I suggest you make it up to him.” Alfred placed a warm hand on Bruce’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I should.” 

*********************************************************

Dick gently tapped his knuckles on the mahogany wood, pressing his ear against the door to listen for any sign of movement. Second time’s always the charm. 

“Little Wing? Can we talk?” 

“Go away Dick!”

The man couldn’t tell if the toddler was using his name as a curse word or not. 

“I just wanted to let you know,” He let out a deep sigh. “I’m really sorry Jason. For everything.” 

“You don’t even know what you’re sorry about!”

“I do. I’m sorry for never being there for you, for never understanding you or making an effort to. For standing by while I let everyone turn their back on you, including me. But I want things to be different. I want things to  _ change _ between us. I want us to have a good relationship with one another. You deserve an older brother who protects and cares for you, someone who you can feel comfortable to talk to and look up to.” 

There was no response. Dick sighed, letting his body slide down the door until his butt made contact with the floor. His head resting against the cold wood of the door, his eyes closed as they were directed towards the ceiling. 

“I’m so sorry Little Wing…”

Suddenly, he heard tiny footsteps making their way to the door. Hope sparking inside of him as he was falling backwards and his head slammed against the dark red carpet. Towering over him was a little boy, staring at him with a curious expression on his face.

“You are?” Jason tilted his head.

“Yes.” Dick responded.

“You’re so sorry that we can go downstairs and make cookies then watch TV?” A new light of joy shined in Jason’s eyes. 

“I have a better idea,” A wide grin came to Dick’s face. “Let’s cook an actual meal, since I know you haven’t eaten in a while, and watch TV.” 

“Yay!” Jason clapped his hands together, giggling.

Dick got into a kneeling position on both knees and looked at Jason’s happy face. 

“What are you hungry for?” Dick asked.

“Um… chicken nuggets!” Jason chimed.

“Good choice!” Dick gave him a thumbs up.

He stood up and ran his fingers through Jason’s hair, ruffling it before placing both of his hands in his jean pockets. Jason looked up at his older brother with a small smile on his face, revealing not too many teeth but at the same time joy. Dick started to walk towards the stairs before hearing a whine. His head whipped around to reveal a frowning toddler. His bottom lip puffed out in a pout. 

“Jaybird?” Dick questioned.

He lifted his arms above his head, the oversized jacket collecting around his armpits and he clenched his hands into fists repeatedly. 

“Dickie!” He repeated the motion.

Dick quickly got the idea, and smiled, running over to scoop up the toddler and hold him against his left hip. 

“Now are you ready?” Dick placed a gentle kiss on Jason’s forehead. 

“Yeah!”

The pair made their way down the stairs and through the kitchen. Once they were there Dick placed Jason on top of the counter, the cold speckled stone making Jason shiver. Dick spun around towards the freezer and opened it, cold fog pouring out of it and surrounding the floor in a light glaze of mist.

“What type of nuggets do you want?”

“Dinos!” 

“Then dinos you shall have!”

He grabbed the box out of the freezer, inhaling a sharp breath through closed teeth as his hand made contact with the frozen box. 

“What do you want to watch once the food’s made?” Dick asked.

“The Walking Dead!” Jason chirped.

Dick got out an aluminum foiled covered pan and sprayed oil on it, placing a variety of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets on the tray. 

“How about something more appropriate for your age?” He suggested.

“Spongebob?” Jason tried again.

“Spongebob’s always fun.” Dick nodded.

He inserted the tray into the oven, the ice particles attached to the meat slowly started to go away as the heat increased. After the chicken was done cooking, Dick took them out of the oven and placed them on the counter, next to Jason who was rambling about his favorite episode of Spongebob.

“So anyways!” He took a deep breath. “The hash slinging slasher turned out to be a kid wanting a job! Isn’t that crazy?! I wish I could work at a fast food joint and have crazy adventures like that! Or just crazy adventures in general, it’d be so fun!”

“Keep on dreaming kid, you’ll get there some day.” 

Dick’s feet glided across the tile as he made his way to the cabinet to retrieve paper plates, then making his way back to Jason. 

“Set up the TV while I set up the food?” Dick asked.

“Okay!” Jason chirped.

He hopped off of the counter, stumbling a bit as he landed on his butt as the tuft of white hair on his head bounced with his movements. He giggled at himself then rose to his feet, scurrying off into the living room. Once Dick had finished setting up his and Jason’s plates, finishing it off with a splatter of barbecue sauce on each, he placed them on top of each other and walked into the living room, hearing the familiar introduction to Spongebob. 

Jason was sitting on the sofa, sinking into the cold leather. He was so small his legs weren’t even hanging over the couch. His sea foam colored eyes hyper focused into the screen. Dick plopped down onto the sofa, Jason’s smaller body being launched into the air flying into a pillow from the impact.

“Dick!” Jason exclaimed.

“I got the food.” He smiled.

The raven haired boy crawled over to Dick, placing himself in his lap and taking a plate of chicken nuggets, then turning back to the screen and focusing his attention back onto the television screen. His head rested comfortably against Dick’s chest as he shoved a nugget covered in sauce inside of his mouth. The two ate their food in near silence, the quiet occasionally interrupted by Jason laughing at the TV. 

Once Jason was finished with his plate he tossed it onto the ground. Dick would have to remind him to pick it up later. His back formed into an arch as he sprawled out his limbs to stretch, letting out a tired yawn in the process. 

“Love you Dickie.” 

The small boy shifted and turned his body around, the side of his head pressing against Dick’s chest as his body curled inwards, his knees going into his chest. A wide smile spread across Dick’s face as a warm sense of joy blossomed inside of his chest. He placed a hand on his little brother’s back.

“Love you too Little Wing.”

Sleep soon overcame Jason as he later started to snore, his arms wrapped around his older brother. While Jason was asleep Dick changed the channel to watch a different show. After a few hours Dick’s eyes started to grow heavy with sleep as the minutes passed. As soon as he was about to sleep, a sharp cry made his eyes snap open.

“No...Dad, please!” Jason squirmed, his hands gripping tightly on the fabric of Dick’s shirt. 

“ _ Little Wing? _ ” Dick thought, tilting his head.

Another sharp cry escaped Jason’s lips, tears forming at the corners of his tightly shut eyes. Dick’s eyes went wide with realization. 

“ _ He’s having a nightmare about his dad. _ ”

Dick was fighting with himself whether it would be best to wake his sibling or not, fingers gently stroking the younger ones back in comfort.

“Don’t worry Little Wing you’re safe here.” Dick whispered.

“Dad, dad, dad, please.” His cries grew louder.

Jason's eyes flew open and a loud wail ripped through his throat. Dick immediately picked up the child, placing his head onto his shoulder and rubbed his back. Dick’s shirt became soaked with the tears streaming down Jason’s face, the liquid coming out in giant globs.

“Jay? Jason, what's wrong?” Dick whispered, bouncing Jason’s body up and down softly as to calm him.

Jason’s wails only grew louder as he tried to choke out a response. Dick shushed him and told him comforting words while at the same time hoping no one would run into the living room to see Jason crying. After a solid fifteen minutes of crying, Jason calmed down a bit, cueing Dick to try and talk to him.

“Jason, are you okay?” Dick tried again.

“W-why does daddy h-hit me-e-e?” He got out through broken sobs. “Why does he ha-a-ate me s-so m-u-uch?” 

“No, no, it’s okay Little Wing. He’s gone now and he can’t hurt you anymore. And he never will again.” Dick said.

“No h-he’s no-o-t!” Jason cried. “He’s i-in the c-a-ave!” 

Jason went back to sobbing then buried his head in Dick’s shoulder. Dick froze in place and his blood went cold. 

“ _ What? _ ” Dick hissed through gritted teeth, trying to keep his composure so as to not scare Jason into more tears. “What do you mean?”

“W-we went to a place called Zootopia then he wanted me to do something and I said n-no then h-he started screaming at m-me then started punching m-me!” The cries continued. “Then a different time a red-headed guy had to s-s-save me from him because I-I-I couldn’t myself!”

“ _ Zootopia? What? The red headed guy is probably Roy _ .” Dick thought to himself.

“D-D-Dick. I- I- just-” He hiccuped.

“Shh. Hush Little Wing. I’m going to talk to him okay? He shouldn’t treat you like this. It’s not right.” Dick reassured the boy.

“No-o-o! Wha-at if he gets mad at m-me or you?!” Jason protested.

“I think he’ll understand my concerns. No need to worry Jaybird.” Dick soothed. “How about we take a nap?” 

Dick needed to put Jason in a place where he wouldn’t be able to hear the conversation he was going to have with Bruce.

“But I just woke up… I don’t want to go back to bed.” Jason rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?! I heard screaming!” Tim slid over the tile, and jumped in front of the tv, combat ready.

A mischievous grin spread across Dick’s face.

“Hey Tim… Jay here had a nightmare. Can you take him outside and play games with him?” Dick explained.

“Dickie, I need to go to the bathroom.” Jason yawned.

“Okay.” Dick replied. “Do you remember where it is?”

The young boy nodded his head and made his way down the hall. A bat theme blanket wrapped around his body and dragged behind him. 

“I didn’t know he was out of his room...” Tim started. “What was the screaming about?”

“Tim, Jason had a nightmare about his dad.” Dick bit his lip.

“Damn, that’s rough. Did you talk to him about-”

“Jason had a nightmare about Bruce.”

Tim stood there stiff in stunned silence, not knowing the appropriate way to react to this news.

“Oh?” Was all he could muster up. “Did something happen between them?”

“I think so. I need to go talk to him about it. Can you watch him while I do it?”

“Will he even allow me to be around him?”

“Most likely. Before he was transformed you were the closest to him in the family. He just needed to get out of his shell at first.”

Tim nodded in understanding.

“You should probably wait for him by the bathroom door. Just to make sure he’s okay.”

“Got it. Good luck with your talk with Bruce.” Tim stated before walking off into the halls, following the same path Jason went.

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a one-shot but turned into something a bit bigger, thanks for reading the first installment! The tags will be updated as more characters are added. 
> 
> Constructive Criticism is always open, and kudos/comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
